The New World of Books

This blog isn't going to get very popular until it is a source for more frequent postings. That will be possible in the near future, but now it is part of this learning experience that all bloggers go through, some faster than others.

When I was a freshman in high school, there was an introductory class required of all new freshmen. I think it was about learning how to cope with high school. In my immature mind it was a waste of time so for this attitude I was taken out of the class and put into a new experimental class teaching speed reading. I loved this class as it was a challenge and results were shown almost daily. The readings while we learned new techniques were usually from the Reader's Digest and we were timed and then tested for comprehension. I remember my speeds got up into the thousands of words per minute with over 90% comprehension. This probably began my love of reading. It may have been coupled by the English teacher requiring the memorization of a poem. I memorized The Raven by Poe and can still quote parts of it.

After marriage, my wife noted a stack of books that eventually would live on the end table next to the bed. Usually 3 to 8 books would be there, all of which I was reading. She commented more than once over this habit as often I would wake her up with some new observation or fact from one of the books. One year I decided to discover how many books I actually read for that year and it was 72. When you read enough, it is possible to read some material much more quickly than more complicated stuff. Also, you begin to make judgements about the authors and their writing approaches. It also instills the desire to try writing on your own. 

In 2007 I was waiting in a Doctor's office, (Isn't that what you are there for, the wait? Don't they call it the "waiting room?") when I noticed an article about the Amazon Kindle in Time magazine. I read it twice before I was invited in. By that evening I had ordered the Kindle for $399! I've never looked back. We had custom made bookshelves made by a son-in-law that were filled with books, most of which I had read. I used to discard fiction books unless I thought they had a purpose later on. I had read many of the Louis L'Amour books in paperback and collected them so that I wouldn't buy that one again, but one day my wife decided they were taking up too much space on the shelves so she contributed them to a library. Oh well, they are light reading and always entertaining if you are as familiar with the Southwest as I am.

The Kindle was huge in my life. I could hear about a book and within a few minutes it was there to begin reading. I told many people about it but most were put off by the price even though the books were less expensive. Many would get excited but then say something like; "I love to hold the books in my hands." or "I like the feel and smell of a new book." Now the book world has changed, especially for those who like to read a lot. We now have two Kindles and I have the Kindle app on my MacBook Pro. It is wonderful. Unfortunately the first Kindle has died and so another is in my future soon. My wife took over the second one.

Now, another part of this story. Lots of us think we would like to write a book. I think many try and start one, I know I have. My Mom wants me to write one. When you would read about the difficulty and percentage of actually getting published it was daunting. Now you can write, get a little non-publisher help online and post a book on Amazon then get paid for selling the books. It can be done quickly and done to the highest standards. You can also have paper copies of it made for purchase on demand on Amazon and other ebook sites. So, being retired and seeing all of this develop over the past few years, that is the incentive to go forward with a book. Even the software to help you do this is available and affordable. With the cost of an ereader like the Kindle well under $100 now more and more people will have one. By the way, now with a Kindle you have something better to do in the "waiting room."

I have now begun this new trail into the world of becoming an author. One brother has already become one and done well. I now declare that in only my spare time over the last month I have written 12,000 words of my target novel of about 100,000 words and it has been fun. 

Day of the Dead

Today in Brasil the Day of the Dead or Finados is celebrated. It would perhaps be thought of as a day to remember our relatives that have passed on similar to our Memorial Day. It is very quiet this morning and probably many stores and services are closed. Schools are out for sure as we have not heard the vehicles that usually come around early picking up students. We were planning to visit another town today for our annual cards of permission to remain here but being a holiday it will have to wait.


Using a Journaling Program

As Shirlyn will attest, new software has an allure that often entices me to change the way I use the computer. When an application seems to offer a way to make a chore more efficient and more usable it may find itself on my MacBook Pro. Since I have made many journal entries over the past couple of years using Pages, the program that came with the computer, some of my gripes about the process  of journalling seem to be alleviated with this new application called MacJournal that automatically sets the date (and time if you want it) for each new entry. I know, I’m a little bit lazy but this is a great time saver. You can put a title on each entry if it is appropriate. It also lets you start as many journals as you need for other projects that you might want to track in this format. You can find it here: http://www.marinersoftware.com/ and you might see some other applications they make, one of which is MacGourmet Deluxe, a recipe organizer that we may explore one day. Another neat feature of the journaling program is the ability to add tags to the entries which enables a quick search for any topic that was mentioned or “tagged” in other posts to the journal. Uploading to a blog is another feature that I intend to use with my blogs as I can control the draft more effectively before deciding to send it off into the blogosphere. The cost of the program was about $40. 

The problems that come with most great programs such as this one include the complications that present themselves when discovering the various options that may be used. The initial recommendation with this program is to just use the basics to get comfortable and as competence is gained, you can add different options and tools to make it better. Otherwise, it can become a burden more than a help. I have already seen this in practice and so will continue to grow in its use little by little.

The View from Ouro Branco

Little did I know after posting about the computer age in August that Steve Jobs would pass on a few weeks later. As a family, our lives have been wonderfully enhanced from the inventions that came from his drive and vision. Beside the Apple II mentioned in that post and the two computers we now use here in Brasil, our son Rob gave me one of the early iPods and we were able to use it while traveling with our families in the White Mountains. We were in two cars but able to communicate somehow with two iPods. Now family members have iPhones, iPods, iPads and their accompanying apps and programs that have greatly enhanced our communication and enjoyment of life. If you receive our monthly Brasil Report, that newsletter is created and sent using my MacBook Pro and it done quickly and easily each month.


I mentioned earlier about the task program using the Pomodoro system and have begun using it, trying to get better at it as it really has helped. I did not like the need to use paper to keep the record of tasks so I found a little app called "My Little Pomodoro" through Google. It allows me to use the computer to add tasks which are then triggered by a click and a new "Pomodoro" starts with 25 minutes ticking away. Very fast and easy and gets me into a task with a short time pressure that virtually takes away the normal interruptions to check email, look at the news, or search the web that seems always present to leave "Just Do It" and enter "Procrastination" mode. The challenge is to create the tasks and then use the system to keep you focused. I think it was only $3.99 to download the app.

Clouds at Ouro Branco

As I write this we are looking out our window in the hotel here in Ouro Branco. This is another small city along the Royal Road (Estrada Real) in our area of service. The clouds are pouring over the mountain like waves.

The Computer Generation

Back in Arizona State University days as part of my Accounting major I took computer programing and we learned about two languages in use then, Fortran and Cobol. Doing our lab work, we had to create certain programs and I remember those large stacks of "punch cards" that had to be kept in the correct order. We would then go to the card reader and input our program to test it. It was tedious but rather exciting when the program worked as anticipated.


Then later in my own small CPA business, I came across a "programmable printing calculator" that was rather large but you could run repetitive programs that you created to get the result of common accounting problems. Very cool. That machine did not last long as it was stolen in a robbery. When it was finally recovered by the police I got it back, but the need for it had moved on. I think about that time came the HP 12 calculator which I still have and will continue using back home. I have two of them, but that is another story.


The next stage was that real computer, the Apple II which would run spreadsheets and word processing. We were using IBM Selectric typewriters in the office for financial reports at the time but once again we were robbed! They took the typewriters but I'm sure they did not know what to do with the computer and so left it in my office. The typewriters were never recovered but even so, the typists did not want them back as they were using the Apple II and found the convenience of correcting in the machine as well as other benefits. So, we entered the computing age with new PC's.


Client computing had become the standard but the small PC's weren't ready for that yet so we purchased a large computer as big as a refrigerator which used huge disks. I think one of us had to take one home every night as a backup! It was cumbersome but worked for some time as the PC capacity began to soar.


After years of growth and the use of the PC's expanded, we passed through stages of problems and expansion but it was certainly the way to do auditing and accounting. About that time, the portables came into use. I remember one of the first ones being as large as a suitcase and about as heavy. I checked in at a flight one day but at arrival, it came out of the chute with it's attached keyboard hanging loose and had some damage. The baggage handlers certainly had no idea what it was nor how fragile it was. Surprisingly it still worked. Later at the Phoenix airport I could not get it to work at the security check and so Shirlyn had to come to the airport and take it home! That was well before 9/11!


Now after retiring from that type of office work, my wife and I at the suggestion of one of our daughters-in-law went with Apple MacBook Pro machines and what a blessing that was. So user friendly and secure and the learning curve has been relatively easy. We love the programs that came with it and while at first I thought we would need to use a few old MicroSoft standbys, that was a mistake and now we are all Apple. Thank you Steve Jobs.


Now Steve Jobs is retiring as CEO of Apple, Inc. and I think he will be remembered as one of those inventors on the level of Thomas Edison or the Wright Brothers having changed the world. 


Now I am an intermediate level blogger and continue to discover new things that make life pleasant and somewhat productive. Things in this area do not seem to slow down, but keeping up is less of a challenge than in the past. This blog is evidence of that. In future Blog posts I will discuss some of the tools we have discovered and now use that may be of interest to you as a reader.